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Drake's Sunday update
Cabal is largely defeated. Update comes about 1/3 of the way into the show when Drake starts to talk. Much Galactic info revealed in Q & A portion.
http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/3/550/show_3550173.mp3
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/29/us-storm-isaac-idUSBRE87L0PH20120829
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/ron-paul-republican-convention_n_1837556.html
Please, look at the site below. Could it be caused by the food we eat, the watter, the chemtrails? What is causing ASD, ADHD, ADD, tourette, asperger and other disorders to our children?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57406450/cdc-sees-autism-rate-rise-25/
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/27/us/tropical-storm-isaac/index.html
Eerie similarities: Isaac follows Katrina's path, evacuations ordered for coast.
by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the warning for parts of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. But it did not extend to the United States.
The temblor struck at 9:37 p.m. about 69 miles off shore. The epicenter was about 105 miles southwest of San Salvador.
There were no reports of casualties or damage. The quake comes after a swarm of more than 300 quakes Sunday in Imperial County, including at least two greater than 5.0 magnitude. Those temblors caused minor damage and forced evacuations from some buildings.
Veronica, my dear, the results of our efforts to prevent World War III are becoming more obvious every day. The Cabal has become quite desperate. People are speaking out and revealing what the Cabal has done to destroy and control humanity. Some can no longer cope with the guilt of what they were forced to do, when under the control of the Cabal. Many were put into situations where satanic abuse was made acceptable. They foolishly indulged, not knowing that it was all being recorded, and would be used against them to force these so-called ‘respectable’ people to obey the Cabal or be ruined by exposure. This formula has worked for generations and it continues to this day. They are made to believe that they belong to an “exclusive club”. They make the sign of Lucifer to show that they are happy to belong to it. They see themselves as superior to the lesser, expendable, mortals.
Humanity cannot be lied to so easily, now. It is so good to see how many are awake to reality. They now see clearly when they are being lied to. The cleverest forgers and falsifiers are no longer safe from exposure and discovery as truth and light progress, regardless of the Cabal, which is now exposed for the first time, thus exposing the evil plot. Mankind is waking up to this great fraud and is beginning to see clearly those who have betrayed you and knowingly handed you over to your oppressors. They are guilty of falsifying your world’s history and substituting a tissue of LIES that they have carefully guarded. The secret of this fraud is now being realised.
It is Ireland and the Irish people who have suffered most and continue to suffer to this day because of this fraud. The ancient Irish, who happily settled in other countries, and shared their great knowledge, have been wiped from your history books. In those times, man knew what he was capable of. People were fearless, confident in who they were. It took a lot for the Vatican to destroy and control the Irish people. Now that the truth is laid before them, they can see clearly what was done to them, and to all mankind, as a result. Everyone on the planet has suffered as a result of what was done then.
It is now time to right that wrong. It is amazing that this fraud could escape for so long without discovery. The propaganda, used in order to create a false impression of everything, was carefully planned and carried out. Do not look to those you were led to believe were your superiors, for guidance. It is up to each and every one of you to take responsibility. Seek the truth for yourself. You have been so badly treated and abused to gratify the greed of the Cabal.
You now have evidence of many bankers being arrested and forced to answer for their deeds, but it is not in your press or on your TV. Ask why this information is being kept from you. This is but one example of the control system that you have accepted until now. You deserve the truth. Take back your power. Together, you are unbeatable !
It gives us great joy to see you come together, sharing knowledge and supporting each other, through the last stages of the Transition. I wish we could share our plans, but it is important that we keep them secret for now. You have all come through so much, and some have been severely tested at times. You have stood firm, knowing that the truth will set you free. Everything will be put right in your world and peace restored. Humanity will live together in harmony, as in ancient times. What you have lived through will be seen as the Dark Ages.
Laughter creates wonderful energy. It is the greatest medicine. You will not find fear where there is laughter. A family which laughs together, stays together. You are all part of a great team. It does not matter which country you live in, you are all one in your efforts to remove the control of the Cabal forever. Many owe their lives to you, because you were brave enough to expose the Cabal’s plans for the London Olympics. They could not carry out their plans to kill thousands of innocent people. This is how effective you are. You will succeed: never doubt that. Ignore the barriers that will undoubtedly be placed before you, to make you feel foolish for believing that the truth will triumph over evil. It takes a strong character to stand up for what he believes in, irrespective of the efforts of the Cabal to entrap him. Remember who you are and why you are on Earth at this time.
Soon, one of the great control systems will fall. Then, the whole house of cards will come tumbling down. Remember, my dear, when I first passed to Spirit, and I told you this, you doubted then, that this could possibly happen. Now, you know without doubt, it is only a matter of time before it will crumble. It will be consumed without trace and disappear from the face of the Earth; its reign of terror, over at last. It was responsible for much of what was evil and corrupt. Death and destruction were its building blocks and its greed knew no bounds. Only those who are still in an hypnotic state choose to remain ignorant of the truth, and soon, it will become obvious even to them. Now you will have to face the terrible truth of what was done to humanity, in order to keep you in a state of ignorance. You will be amazed when you see what your efforts bring about. The future is yours. Enjoy the adventure !
Things are moving fast and it is hard to keep up with everything. You can only do your best, as you always do, but I need you to take time to rest, also.
Be prepared, my love. Your adoring, Monty.
Website: The Montague Keen Foundation
Earth Watch Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Biological Hazards / Wildlife / Hazmat
| 25.08.2012 | Biological Hazard | Italy | Region of Veneto, [Veneto-wide] |  |
 |
Biological Hazard in Italy on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 16:22 (04:22 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Italian researchers said a new strain of West Nile virus appeared to be spreading in the northeast area of the country. A new report from the University of Padua said the strain of West Nile first detected last month was different from the virus that caused outbreaks in Italy’s Veneto region in 2008 and 2009. Health officials in the area were urged by the researchers to increase their surveillance of mosquito-borne West Nile. West Nile has been appearing more frequently in the Mediterranean and Eastern European nations in recent years. The Padua study published in Eurosurveillance concluded the new virus had found a hospitable home in the area. “This shows that the virus is able to winter in wetland areas near rivers, where it probably has established its endemic cycle”, said Giorgio Palu, one of the authors of the study. | |
| Biohazard name: | West Nile virus |
| Biohazard level: | 0/4 — |
| Biohazard desc.: | This does not included biological hazard category. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | |
| 25.08.2012 | Biological Hazard | USA | State of Maryland, [Poplar Island] | |
|
Biological Hazard in USA on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 13:18 (01:18 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Poplar Island attracts hundreds of species of birds, from shorebirds to waterfowl to birds of prey. But some of them are in trouble. Avian botulism is sickening and killing some of the shorebirds and waterfowl at Poplar, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services one of the government agencies involved in restoring the Chesapeake Bay island as a wildlife sanctuary. This summer’s heat waves and lack of rain have allowed avian botulism to thrive on the island, where dredged material is being used to reclaim the island as a wildlife habitat, said Chris Guy, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Chesapeake Bay office in Annapolis. Avian botulism is not harmful to humans but can cause lethargy and dehydration in birds. If left untreated, it can be fatal to birds. The concern started Aug. 2 when a black-neck stilt, a large black-and-white shorebird, was spotted with signs of avian botulism. In recent weeks, biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Environmental Service have collected nearly 300 sick or dying birds, mostly sandpipers and mallards. A total of 78 birds have been sent to Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research in Delaware for treatment. The goal is to eventually allow the birds to be released. Biologists think they caught the outbreak in time to prevent a large-scale loss of birds. “By recognizing warning signs and taking decisive action, we were able to keep the number of birds harmed by this event very low,” said Pete McGowan, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 130 species of birds have been spotted nesting, feeding or resting at Poplar Island. It has a particularly robust population of cormorants, as well as many egrets, terns and ducks. | |
| Biohazard name: | Avian botulism |
| Biohazard level: | 2/4 Medium |
| Biohazard desc.: | Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | confirmed |
| 25.08.2012 | Biological Hazard | USA | State of California, Burbank [700 block of Screenland Drive] | |
|
Biological Hazard in USA on Thursday, 23 August, 2012 at 06:35 (06:35 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 03:38 UTC |
| Description | |
| Health officials are trying to stop the spread of the potentially deadly disease Typhus, primarily transmitted by fleas. “Murine typhus, which is a disease transmitted primarily by fleas, has been slowly increasing in Los Angeles County,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the L.A. County Department of Health. “It is not an epidemic. We had a total of 38 cases reported last year. We’ve had 15 confirmed this year and another 17 that we’re investigating.” Health officials say people can get typhus when their pets come in contact with wild, flea-infested animals like possums, rats, feral cats and others. “And some of the fleas have moved from those animals to your animals,” said Fielding. If one of those fleas from your pet bites you, you could end up with typhus. Health officials say the symptoms of typhus are similar to a bad case of the flu: headaches, high fever, chills, muscle aches and more. Another sign of typhus is a rather large rash that can break out over your body. “The good news is when it’s diagnosed it’s very treatable with antibiotics,” said Fielding. At least one human infection had been confirmed so far this year in Burbank, and two have been verified in the San Fernando Valley. Another three cases are under investigation, according to public health officials. In Los Angeles County, 15 cases of typhus have been confirmed so far this year, while another 17 were still under investigation, according to Fielding. The latest infections are part of a trend in which county officials have noticed a slight increase in flea-borne typhus cases over the past five to six years. | |
| Today | HAZMAT | USA | State of Texas, Mount Pleasant |  |
|
HAZMAT in USA on Sunday, 26 August, 2012 at 04:05 (04:05 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| [This event happened on 24.08.2012] An ammonia leak at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry packing plant on FM 127 in Mount Pleasant Friday afternoon resulted in a general evacuation and sent at least 17 people to the hospital. The leak happened about 2:30 p.m. Friday at the plant. Pilgrim’s spokeswoman Margaret McDonald said that contract workers were performing maintenance on the plant roof when the leak began and the plant was evacuated. Titus County first responders provided oxygen and chilled water for the employees as they were examined. Folding cots were also provided for the employees described by the incident as the “walking wounded”. The plant’s cafeteria was re-opened to allow the workers get some relief from the heat; at least 40 employees took advantage of the air conditioning. Because of the large emergency response, FM 127 (Monticello Road) was closed temporarily to through traffic. McDonald says all workers taken to the hospital were examined, treated and released, and the leak was repaired by 3:30 p.m. The incident was formally terminated by Titus County emergency services at 4:10 p.m., although some first responders remained a little longer. TRMC spokesman Shannon Norfleet told the Associated Press says the examinations were precautionary and no serious injuries or illnesses were found. |
| 25.08.2012 | Environment Pollution | Sri Lanka | Capital City, Colombo [Wellawatte] | |
|
Environment Pollution in Sri Lanka on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 13:38 (01:38 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| A patch of oil reached the coast of Wellawatte, a zone of Colombo popular with local swimmers, the coast conservation department said. The national Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has said the slick is about 10 kilometres (six miles) long and warned that areas popular with tourists could be at risk. But the spill had not reached any such areas on Saturday and the conservation department said it did not pose a great danger. “The spill is manageable and the leak from the sunken ship had stopped from last night,” department chief Anil Premarathne told AFP. “About 10 or 15 people would be enough for this clean up.” The rusting 15,000-tonne Thmothrmopolyseara, a Cyprus-flagged carrier, went down late Thursday after remaining anchored outside the Colombo harbour since 2009 following a dispute over its cargo of steel, local officials said. The DMC said it had mobilised 500 volunteers, including security personnel, for a coastal clean up if the problem got worse. Centre director Sarath Kumara said much of the 600 tonnes of oil from the ship had been pumped out before it sank and only a small residue remained aboard. The coast line from Mount Lavinia, a popular tourist resort just south of the capital Colombo, and Negombo, the first beach resort opened for tourism in the early 1970s, was at risk, the DMC said. The vessel had been detained by Sri Lankan courts following litigation over the cargo of steel valued at over $300 million, according to local media reports. It was not clear who owned the vessel. Sri Lanka’s merchant shipping authority director Ajith Seneviratne said they were ready to tow the ship away to a salvage yard in the island’s east, but were prevented by a court order against the removal. |
Earth Watch Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Solar Activity
3MIN News August 25. 2012
Published on Aug 25, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/[Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]
HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html[Click online data, and have a little fun]
SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/[Place to find Solar Images and Videos - as seen from earth]
SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater[SOHO; Lasco and EIT - as seen from earth]
Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images[Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI - as seen from the side]
SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/[Just click it... trust me]
SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/[All purpose data viewing site]
iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html[Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]
NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/
NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php[That cool alert map I use]
JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/
LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php
Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/[Really? You can't figure out what this one is for?]
BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html[Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]
TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index[Tornado Forecast for the day]
GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/[Clouds over America]
EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…
PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…
HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker
INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/[Weather site used by many youtubers]
NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/
PHYSORG: http://phys.org/[GREAT News Site!]
Space
Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days) |
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| Object Name | Apporach Date | Left | AU Distance | LD Distance | Estimated Diameter* | Relative Velocity | |||
| (2009 AV) | 26th August 2012 | 0 day(s) | 0.1615 | 62.8 | 670 m – 1.5 km | 22.51 km/s | 81036 km/h | ||
| 331769 (2003 BQ35) | 28th August 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1585 | 61.7 | 240 m – 530 m | 4.64 km/s | 16704 km/h | ||
| (2010 SC) | 28th August 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1679 | 65.3 | 16 m – 36 m | 9.56 km/s | 34416 km/h | ||
| 4769 Castalia | 28th August 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1135 | 44.2 | 1.4 km | 12.06 km/s | 43416 km/h | ||
| (2012 LU7) | 02nd September 2012 | 7 day(s) | 0.1200 | 46.7 | 440 m – 990 m | 8.16 km/s | 29376 km/h | ||
| (2012 FS35) | 02nd September 2012 | 7 day(s) | 0.1545 | 60.1 | 2.3 m – 5.2 m | 2.87 km/s | 10332 km/h | ||
| (2012 HG31) | 03rd September 2012 | 8 day(s) | 0.0716 | 27.9 | 440 m – 990 m | 10.33 km/s | 37188 km/h | ||
| (2012 PX) | 04th September 2012 | 9 day(s) | 0.0452 | 17.6 | 61 m – 140 m | 9.94 km/s | 35784 km/h | ||
| (2012 EH5) | 05th September 2012 | 10 day(s) | 0.1613 | 62.8 | 38 m – 84 m | 9.75 km/s | 35100 km/h | ||
| (2011 EO11) | 05th September 2012 | 10 day(s) | 0.1034 | 40.2 | 9.0 m – 20 m | 8.81 km/s | 31716 km/h | ||
| (2007 PS25) | 06th September 2012 | 11 day(s) | 0.0497 | 19.3 | 23 m – 52 m | 8.50 km/s | 30600 km/h | ||
| 329520 (2002 SV) | 08th September 2012 | 13 day(s) | 0.1076 | 41.9 | 300 m – 670 m | 9.17 km/s | 33012 km/h | ||
| (2011 ES4) | 10th September 2012 | 15 day(s) | 0.1792 | 69.8 | 20 m – 44 m | 12.96 km/s | 46656 km/h | ||
| (2008 CO) | 11th September 2012 | 16 day(s) | 0.1847 | 71.9 | 74 m – 160 m | 4.10 km/s | 14760 km/h | ||
| (2007 PB8) | 14th September 2012 | 19 day(s) | 0.1682 | 65.5 | 150 m – 340 m | 14.51 km/s | 52236 km/h | ||
| 226514 (2003 UX34) | 14th September 2012 | 19 day(s) | 0.1882 | 73.2 | 260 m – 590 m | 25.74 km/s | 92664 km/h | ||
| (1998 QC1) | 14th September 2012 | 19 day(s) | 0.1642 | 63.9 | 310 m – 700 m | 17.11 km/s | 61596 km/h | ||
| (2002 EM6) | 15th September 2012 | 20 day(s) | 0.1833 | 71.3 | 270 m – 590 m | 18.56 km/s | 66816 km/h | ||
| (2002 RP137) | 16th September 2012 | 21 day(s) | 0.1624 | 63.2 | 67 m – 150 m | 7.31 km/s | 26316 km/h | ||
| (2009 RX4) | 16th September 2012 | 21 day(s) | 0.1701 | 66.2 | 15 m – 35 m | 8.35 km/s | 30060 km/h | ||
| (2005 UC) | 17th September 2012 | 22 day(s) | 0.1992 | 77.5 | 280 m – 640 m | 7.55 km/s | 27180 km/h | ||
| (2012 FC71) | 18th September 2012 | 23 day(s) | 0.1074 | 41.8 | 24 m – 53 m | 3.51 km/s | 12636 km/h | ||
| (1998 FF14) | 19th September 2012 | 24 day(s) | 0.0928 | 36.1 | 210 m – 480 m | 21.40 km/s | 77040 km/h | ||
| 331990 (2005 FD) | 19th September 2012 | 24 day(s) | 0.1914 | 74.5 | 320 m – 710 m | 15.92 km/s | 57312 km/h | ||
| (2009 SH2) | 24th September 2012 | 29 day(s) | 0.1462 | 56.9 | 28 m – 62 m | 7.52 km/s | 27072 km/h | ||
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……………………………………
Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Unveiled
by John Williams
A quick check of Hubble’s gallery shows just 1,300 images; however more than raw 700,000 images reside in a vast archive with hundreds of potentially jaw-dropping astronomical scenes just waiting to be uncovered. That was the idea behind the European Space Agency’s international contest called Hubble’s Hidden Treasures. And now with the hard work of amateur astronomers and more than 3,000 submissions, some of Hubble’s incredible celestial treasures are revealed.
“The response was impressive, with almost 3000 submissions,” the ESA said in a press release. “More than a thousand of these images were fully processed: a difficult and time-consuming task. We’ve already started featuring the best of these in our Hubble Picture of the Week series.”
The top 10 images selected in the Hubble Hidden Treasures basic imaging category. Top row: NGC 6300 by Brian Campbell, V* PV Cephei by Alexey Romashin, IRAS 14568-6304 by Luca Limatola, NGC 1579 by Kathlyn Smith, B 1608+656 by Adam Kill Bottom row: NGC 4490 by Kathy van Pelt, NGC 6153 by Ralf Schoofs, NGC 6153 by Matej Novak, NGC 7814 by Gavrila Alexandru, NGC 7026 by Linda Morgan-O’Connor
Credit: NASA & ESA
Judges ranked images from two categories, an image processing category and basic image searching category. Judges sifted through 1189 entries in the image processing category; a painstaking process of finding promising data and creating an attractive image using professional imaging software. But even if contestants didn’t have the technical know-how to create large mosaics and combine color filters, they could find stunning images in the Hubble archive using using simple online tools. The ESA received more than 1600 entries in this category.
“Every week, we search the archive for hidden treasures, process the scientific data into attractive images and publish them as the Hubble Picture of the Week,” says the ESA on their Hidden Treasures website. “But the archive is so vast that nobody really knows the full extent of what Hubble has observed.”
Josh Lake of the United States won with this awesome image of NGC 1763, part of the N11 star-forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
First place in the processed category, which asked contestants to find promising data within the archive and process that scene into an attractive image, went to Josh Lake, from the United States. The image, which won the public vote, narrowly edged out other images. Lake produced a bold two-color image that is not in natural colors but contrasts light from glowing hydrogen and nitrogen. In natural colors, the two glowing gasses produce almost indistinguishable shades of red. Lake’s image separates them out into red and blue offering a dramatic view of the structure.
Messier 77 produced by Andre van der Hoeven, of the Netherlands came in a close second.
Andre van der Hoeven of the Netherlands came in a close second. The jury noted the impressive nature of Messier 77 in the image as well as the processing which combines several datasets from separate instruments to create the amazing image.
“This was my hardest job until now,” van der Hoeven says on the Flickr page. “Combining the different datasets to get equal colors was really hard. M77 was not fully covered by one dataset, so I had to combine channels of the WFPC2 with different wavelengths and tune the colors to get them to fit. But the result is in my opinion quite astonishing.”
We are as surprised as him that this image had not been released before.
Judy Schmidt of the United States entered this image of XZ Tauri, a new star lighting up a nearby cloud of gas and dust. She entered several images into the contest.
Third place went to an interesting image of XZ Tauri, a newborn star spraying gas into its surroundings as well as lighting up a nearby cloud of gas. The panel said it was a challenging dataset to process because Hubble captured only two colors in the region. “Nevertheless, the end result is an attractive image, and an unusual object that we would never have found without her help,” the panel said.
Revealing the challenge of many Hubble mosaics, the jury was impressed with the technical achievement Renaud Houdinet showed in putting together this ambitious view. He called this “The Great Mosaic Disaster in Chamaeleon. “Sometimes, things don’t turn out as they ought,” Houdinet admits on the Flickr description. Chamaeleon 1 is a large nebula near the south celestial pole and was not covered in one single Hubble image.
Robert Gendler took fifth place with an image of spiral galaxy Messier 96. You may know Gendler’s work as his version of Hubble’s image of NGC 3190 is the default image on the desktop of new Apple computers.
Top image caption: Top ten images selected in the Hubble Hidden Treasures image processing competition. Top row: NGC 1763 by Josh Lake, M 77 by Andre van der Hoeven, XZ Tauri by Judy Schmidt, Chamaeleon I by Renaud Houdinet, M 96 by Robert Gendler. Bottom row: SNR 0519-69 by Claude Cornen, PK 111-2.1 by Josh Barrington, NGC 1501 by kyokugaisha1, Abell 68 by Nick Rose, IC 10 by Nikolaus Sulzenauer. Credit: NASA & ESA
Links:
- Hubble’s Hidden Treasures
- Hidden Treasures image processing Flickr group
- Hidden Treasures basic imaging Flickr group
About the Author: John Williams is owner of TerraZoom, a Colorado-based web development shop specializing in web mapping and online image zooms. He also writes the award-winning blog, StarryCritters, an interactive site devoted to looking at images from NASA’s Great Observatories and other sources in a different way. A former contributing editor for Final Frontier, his work has appeared in the Planetary Society Blog, Air & Space Smithsonian, Astronomy, Earth, MX Developer’s Journal, The Kansas City Star and many other newspapers and magazines.
Earth Watch Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Epidemic Hazards / Diseases
| 25.08.2012 | Epidemic Hazard | Nepal | Khimna VDC, Palanta [Kalikot District] | |
|
Epidemic Hazard in Nepal on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 14:11 (02:11 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Four school girls have died from an unknown disease at Khimna VDC in Palanta area of Kalikot district. Over 65 students have fallen sick due to a breakout of mysterious disease. The victims were the students at the local Kalika Lower Secondary School. Following an outbreak of mysterious illness, an emergency meeting of the school management on last Wednesday decided to close the school until the situation comes under control, said school principal Man Bahadur Budha. Principal Budha has complained that the District Public Health Office has turned a deaf ear towards frequent calls by the school management to take measures to investigate the causes of mass illness and take the situation under control. “The local health centers here are not able to provide even Citamol tablets for the sick,” he said. The locals have submitted an application at the District Administration Office and the District Education Office demanding that lives of the students be saved. Meanwhile, a man who, was found dead on the bank of a glacier at Phoimahadev Ward No-1 in the district few days back, has been identified, said the District Police Office, Jumla. He is Surya Hamal, 29, of Narakot-2 in the district. Mentally ill Hamal had left his home some two weeks ago, said the family source. His body was handed to the family today and his final rites were conducted today itself. | |
| Biohazard name: | Unidentified fatal disease |
| Biohazard level: | 4/4 Hazardous |
| Biohazard desc.: | Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | suspected |
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New Strain of Hand, Foot and Mouth Virus Worries Parents, Pediatricians
ScienceDaily
Your child goes to bed in perfect health. The next morning she wakes up with high fever, malaise and bright red blisters erupting all over her body. Johns Hopkins Children’s Center dermatologists say the disturbing scenario has become quite common in the last few months, sending scared parents to their pediatrician’s office or straight to the emergency room.
Bernard Cohen, M.D., director of pediatric dermatology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and colleague Kate Puttgen, M.D., have seen or consulted on close to 50 such cases in the last few months and have received countless phone calls from scared parents and concerned physicians. Cohen believes this number may be just the tip of the iceberg with primary care pediatricians seeing the bulk of new cases.
Cohen and Puttgen want to reassure parents that most cases of the disease are benign and that nearly all patients recover in seven to 10 days without treatment and without serious complications.
“What we are seeing is relatively common viral illness called hand-foot-and-mouth disease but with a new twist,” Cohen says.
The culprit is an unusual strain of the common coxsackie virus that usually causes the disease. The new strain, coxsackie A6, previously found only in Africa and Asia, is now cropping up all over the United States.
The coxsackie virus strikes infants and children under age 5 in the summer and autumn months. Symptoms include fever and malaise and, a day or two later, a non-itchy skin rash with flat or raised red spots on the hands and feet and/or mouth sores. The new strain, however, behaves somewhat differently from its homegrown cousin, Cohen says. It carries a slightly higher risk for more serious illness and more widespread rash that can involve the arms, legs, face and diaper area. The new strain also seems to affect older as well as younger children.
“We’ve talked with many of our pediatric dermatology colleagues around the country and the number of cases and the severity of the rash is clearly new and different from the typical hand, foot and mouth disease we are used to seeing,” adds Puttgen. “The good news is that it looks bad but hasn’t actually caused severe symptoms for our patients.”
The new virus can also cause a rash that mimics lesions of herpes simplex virus, which requires treatment with antivirals.
“It can look like disseminated herpes simplex, and parents may panic if they don’t know what it is,” Cohen says. “But unlike herpes simplex, this rash evolves very fast. It’s bad for a few days and then gets better very quickly without any treatment at all.”
To reduce the spread of the virus, Cohen and Puttgen advise frequent hand washing and good general hygiene. Pediatricians need not refer patients to a specialist if they recognize the rash for what it is and if the child is otherwise healthy, they say. “If the child has low-grade fever, but is otherwise well, waiting and watching is appropriate,” Cohen says. “If the child is having problems with feeding or drinking or acting ill, it’s time to call the doctor.” Specifically, Cohen says, children with immune deficiencies, cancer or other serious illness should be followed closely by their pediatrician to avoid or promptly treat any complications.
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Climate Change
Good News from the Bad Drought: Gulf ‘Dead Zone’ Smallest in Years
ScienceDaily
The worst drought to hit the United States in at least 50 years does have one benefit: it has created the smallest “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico in years, says a Texas A&M University researcher who has just returned from gulf waters.
Less oxygen dissolved in the water is often referred to as a “dead zone” (in red above) because most marine life either dies, or, if they are mobile such as fish, leave the area. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts. (Credit: NOAA)
Oceanography professor Steve DiMarco, one of the world’s leading authorities on the dead zone, says he and other Texas A&M researchers and graduate students analyzed the Gulf Aug. 15-21 and covered more than 1,200 miles of cruise track, from Texas to Louisiana. The team found no hypoxia off the Texas coast while only finding hypoxia near the Mississippi River delta on the Louisiana coast.
“We had to really hunt to find any hypoxia at all and Texas had none,” he explains.
“The most severe hypoxia levels were found near Terrabonne Bay and Barataria Bay off the coast of southeast Louisiana.
“In all, we found about 1,580 square miles of hypoxia compared to about 3,400 square miles in August 2011. What has happened is that the drought has caused very little fresh-water runoff and nutrient load into the Gulf, and that means a smaller region for marine life to be impacted.”
DiMarco has made 27 research trips to investigate the dead zone since 2003.
DiMarco says the size of the dead zone off coastal Louisiana has been routinely monitored for about 25 years. Previous research has also shown that nitrogen levels in the Gulf related to human activities have tripled over the past 50 years. During the past five years, the dead zone has averaged about 5,700 square miles and has reached as high as 9,400 square miles.
Hypoxia is when oxygen levels in seawater drop to dangerously low levels, defined as concentrations less than 2 milligrams per liter, and persistent hypoxia can potentially result in fish kills and harm marine life, thereby creating a “dead zone” of life in that particular area.
The Mississippi is the largest river in the United States, draining 40 percent of the land area of the country. It also accounts for almost 90 percent of the freshwater runoff into the Gulf of Mexico.
“These findings confirm what we found in a trip to the Gulf back in June, and also what other researchers in Louisiana have discovered, so there is general agreement that the dead zone this year is a very, very small one.
“But the situation could certainly change by next spring,” DiMarco adds.
“The changes we see year to year are extreme. For example, last year, record flooding of the Mississippi River and westerly winds in the Gulf led to a much larger hypoxic area, particularly earlier in the summer. We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of rainfall is in store for the Midwest over the next 8-10 months.”
Earth Watch Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Extreme Temperatures/ Weather
Bosnia on red alert during hottest summer on record
by Staff Writers
Sarajevo (AFP)
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Bosnian authorities put the entire country on red alert Thursday against a heatwave that has seen the Balkan nation bake in its hottest summer on record, the national weather institute said.
Meteorologist Dzenan Zulum said the months of June, July and August had been the hottest since measurements were first recorded 120 years ago.
In some places, the mercury has soared to 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit) and temperatures in the capital Sarajevo have in recent days been about seven degrees Celsius warmer than normal.
“We predict a similar temperature for the next two or three days followed by a slight cooling from Sunday,” Zulum said.
Farmers say between 50-80 percent of their crops have been damaged in the heatwave, and water distribution to several towns has been disrupted.
Bosnia is also battling dozens of forest fires in the south and east of the country, with many hundreds of hectares (acres) of land burned.
Related Links
Weather News at TerraDaily.com
| 25.08.2012 | Forest / Wild Fire | Greece | Region of Attica, [Near to Afidnes] |  |
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Forest / Wild Fire in Greece on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 13:08 (01:08 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Firefighters on Saturday managed to partially control a large forest fire that broke out on the northeastern outskirts of Athens, officials said. “I believe we are going well,” Pavlos Papageorgiou, a senior fire department officer, told state television NET. “The only front is in a ravine near the town of Afidnes, we are moving forces from other areas where the fire is under control,” he said. The fire broke out before dawn near Afidnes, clouding the skies over the capital’s northern suburbs with smoke and ash. It had earlier threatened an army camp and an industrial park in the vicinity. NET said a number of homes and vehicles had been burnt in the community of Drosopigi and that local residents had heard explosions before the fire broke out, suggesting that arson was involved. Traffic police briefly diverted traffic on the national highway leading north of Athens as a precaution. The same area had also been ravaged by fires in 2009. Greece suffers from a large number of summer fires usually aided by high temperatures and strong winds and are often attributed to arson. The Athens national observatory this week said the months of June and July were among the hottest on record. The worst disaster this season occurred on the Aegean island of Chios where scores of mastic orchards were destroyed by a fire burning for a week. |
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Storms / Flooding
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| Name of storm system | Location | Formed | Last update | Last category | Course | Wind Speed | Gust | Wave | Source | Details |
| Tembin (15W) | Pacific Ocean | 19.08.2012 | 26.08.2012 | Typhoon III | 155 ° | 157 km/h | 194 km/h | 4.27 m | JTWC | |
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| Bolaven (16W) | Pacific Ocean | 20.08.2012 | 26.08.2012 | SuperTyphoon | 315 ° | 213 km/h | 259 km/h | 5.79 m | JTWC | |
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| Isaac (AL09) | Atlantic Ocean | 21.08.2012 | 26.08.2012 | Tropical Depression | 305 ° | 93 km/h | 111 km/h | 5.79 m | NOAA NHC | |
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Heavy rain, floods kill 26 in Pakistan: officials
by Staff Writers
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan (AFP)
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Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain have killed at least 26 people and destroyed hundreds of houses in northern Pakistan, officials said on Thursday.
Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir said at least 17 people have been killed and nine others injured in six districts since Monday.
“Some 685 houses and 125 shops have been damaged and roads washed away,” Majeed said, adding that a request has been made to the federal government for financial help.
Irshad Bhatti, a spokesman for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, said the extent of the damage was still being assessed.
The majority of the deaths in Kashmir came when buildings collapsed due to the rains, and a further nine people died in flooding in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.
Adnan Khan, an official from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said he feared the death toll there could rise.
“Dozens of families have suffered and their houses were destroyed, several people are still missing” Khan told AFP.
Weather officials are predicting heavy rain in the next three days and rescue teams are closely monitoring the situation, Bhatti said.
Floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2011 affected 5.8 million people, with floodwaters killing livestock, destroying crops, homes and infrastructure as the nation struggled to recover from record inundations the previous year.
Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
Tropical Storm Isaac hugs Cuba coast, expected to be Cat 2 hurricane in Gulf
Florida’s governor declares a state of emergency as residents and tourists flee Key West. Storm preparations are under way all along the Gulf Coast. NBC’s Thanh Truong reports.
By NBC News and wire services
Updated at 6 p.m. ET: Tropical Storm Isaac was hugging the northern coastline of eastern Cuba on Saturday after claiming at least four lives in Haiti. Isaac should become a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday just as it nears the Florida Keys, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and then grow into an even stronger Category 2 storm with 100 mph winds.
Isaac “could be significantly stronger than currently forecast” once it enters the Gulf of Mexico, the center said in an advisory.
It will first sweep past southwest Florida and the Florida Keys, where “hurricane conditions are expected … Sunday,” it said in a separate update.
Isaac is a massive storm, with tropical storm-force winds extending 230 miles from the center. Key West International Airport was halting all flights at 7 p.m. Saturday until the storm had passed.
Tropical Storm Isaac is picking up steam as it barrels through the Caribbean. The Weather Channel’s Mike Seidel reports on the storm’s effects.
In Haiti, a woman and a child in the town of Souvenance were killed in the storm, a local official reported. A woman in the southern coastal city of Jacmel was crushed to death when a tree fell on her house, government officials said.
In the capital Port-au-Prince – where some 350,000 people are still living in tents or shelters after the 2010 Haiti earthquake – a girl, 10, was killed when a wall fell on her.
Power outages and flooding were reported as Isaac moved across the hilly and severely deforested Caribbean country.
“There’s a lot of rain, a lot of wind,” said Magdala Jean-Baptiste, who huddled with her frightened children in their home in the southern coastal city of Jacmel. “We haven’t had any power since the storm started yesterday. We passed the night with no sleep.”
Tropical Storm Isaac lashes the island of Hispaniola, killing at least three people in Haiti, where thousands still live in tents after an earthquake over two years ago. NBC’s Mark Potter reports.
In neighboring Dominican Republic, Isaac felled power and phone lines and left at least a dozen towns cut off by flood waters. The most severe damage was reported along the south coast, including the capital Santo Domingo, where more than half the city was without power.
Cuba prepared by closing beaches and evacuating tourists in vulnerable areas, NBC’s Mary Murray and The Weather Channel’s Mike Seidel reported from Havana. Flights across Cuba were also suspended.
In Baracoa, a city on Cuba’s eastern side, high seas began topping the seawall Friday night, Radio Baracoa reported.
Now with 60-mph winds, Isaac should exit Cuba on Sunday and then move south of the Florida Keys and into the Gulf.
Dieu Nalio Chery / AP
Residents wade through a flooded street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Saturday declared a state of emergency to make sure local and state agencies would be ready. Republicans effectively canceled the first day of their national convention in Tampa, on Florida’s central Gulf Coast, deciding to gavel it open on Monday, then immediately recess to some time on Tuesday.
Gulf of Mexico operators began shutting down offshore oil and gas rigs on Friday ahead of the storm.
Follow Isaac’s path with our storm tracker
Live updates and analysis from weather.com
Tampa’s weather forecast includes rain and high winds Sunday night and into Monday, The Weather Channel reported. The winds could gust up to 60 mph.
The Weather Channel’s Bryan Norcross tracks Tropical Storm Isaac’s movement and predictions about where it is headed.
Monday and Tuesday include a risk of tornadoes across south Florida.
Officials were handing out sandbags to residents in the Tampa area, which often floods when heavy rainstorms hit. Sandbags also were being handed out in Homestead, 20 years after Hurricane Andrew devastated the community there. Otherwise, however, convention preparations were moving ahead as usual.
Isaac’s exact path is still unclear, but the hurricane center said models suggest it will make landfall somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and New Orleans on Tuesday night.
The storm’s anticipated path did shift closer to the Keys than previously forecast and emergency managers urged tourists to leave the islands if they could do so safely. A single road links the chain of islands to the Florida Peninsula.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Walter Michot / AP
Tropical Storm Isaac rakes the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba as it makes its way toward Florida, where Tampa will be hosting the Republican National Convention.
Have Swedish Forests Recovered from the Storm Gudrun?
ScienceDaily
In January 2005, the storm Gudrun hit Sweden. It has been estimated to have caused an overall economic damage of 2.4 billion euros in Swedish forestry alone. But has there been more damage to the forest than was clearly visible? A recently published study by Seidl and Blennow shows that Gudrun caused not only immediate damage corresponding to 110% of the average annual harvest in Sweden from only 16% of the country’s forest area but also pervasive effects in terms of growth reduction.
In recent decades, the frequency and severity of natural disturbances by e.g., strong winds and insect outbreaks has increased considerably in many forest ecosystems around the world. Future climate change is expected to further intensify disturbance regimes, which makes addressing disturbances in ecosystem management a top priority. As a prerequisite a broader understanding of disturbance impacts and ecosystem responses is needed. With regard to the effects of strong winds — the most detrimental disturbance agent in central and northern Europe — monitoring and management has focused on structural damage, i.e., tree mortality from uprooting and stem breakage. Effects on the functioning of trees surviving the storm (e.g., their productivity and allocation) have been rarely accounted for to date.
Seidl and Blennow show that growth reduction following the storm was significant and pervasive in a 6.79 million hectare forest landscape. Wind-related growth reduction in Norway spruce forests surviving the storm exceeded 10% in the worst hit regions. At the landscape scale, wind-related growth reduction amounted to 3.0 million m3 in the three years following Gudrun. It thus exceeds the annual long-term average storm damage from uprooting and stem breakage in Sweden and is in the same order of magnitude as the volume damaged by spruce bark beetles after Gudrun.
Seidl and Blennow conclude that the impact of strong winds on forest ecosystems is not limited to the immediately visible area of structural damage, and call for a broader consideration of disturbance effects on ecosystem structure and functioning in the context of forest management and climate change mitigation.
| Today | Tropical Storm | Japan | Island of Okinawa, [Okinawa-wide] |  |
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Tropical Storm in Japan on Sunday, 26 August, 2012 at 04:38 (04:38 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| An unusually powerful typhoon packing 250-kilometre per hour gusts is approaching the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. Okinawa weather officials projected that Typhoon Bolaven would be the strongest typhoon to hit the island in several years. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the typhoon was centered about 200 kilometres southeast of Okinawa and was expected to pass directly over the island by this evening, dumping as much as 500 millimetres of rain over a 24-hour period. Public broadcaster NHK warned that the storm’s strong winds could produce heavy damage and told residents to stay indoors and away from windows. |
| Today | Flash Flood | China | Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, [Helan Mountain] | |
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Flash Flood in China on Sunday, 26 August, 2012 at 03:47 (03:47 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Six tourists died and more than 30 were evacuated after a flash flood that soaked a mountain ravine in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region Saturday, local authorities said. The flash flood, triggered by torrential rains in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, hit the Leek Ravine in the Helan Mountain that borders Inner Mongolia’s Alxa League and Shizuishan city of Ningxia at 12 pm, Ningxia’s regional drought relief and flood control headquarters said in a statement. Nine tourists were washed away while playing near a waterfall in the ravine. Six of them were found dead by rescuers and the other three were hospitalized with injuries, it said. At least 30 other tourists were evacuated to the city proper for safety considerations, said Xu Dongtao, an officer with Ningxia’s fire prevention headquarters who led the rescue operation. More than 100 officers and fire fighters joined the search and rescue. The city government of Shizuishan warned citizens Saturday of more mountain torrents and landslides in the Helan Mountain this flood season |
| 25.08.2012 | Flash Flood | USA | State of North Carolina, Roanoke Rapids | |
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Flash Flood in USA on Saturday, 25 August, 2012 at 14:34 (02:34 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| At least 15 roads in the Roanoke Rapids area became impassable Saturday morning after flash floods swept through the city following at least one hour of heavy rainfall, according to a Halifax County official. Authorities are asking all residents to stay in their homes and, if they have to drive, to never attempt to pass through any high water. A flash flood warning remains in effect for Halifax County until noon. One shelter is open in the city, at the T.J. Davis Recreation Center, 600 E. 6th St., authorities said. No injuries have been reported, said Roanoke Rapids Police Chief Jeff Hinton. He estimated that some streets are covered with up to 4 feet of water. Flooded roads were also reported in Northampton County. Rain, along with warn temperatures and partly cloudy skies, are on tap throughout central North Carolina for the weekend. The rainfall started Friday night in many areas, including Wake County. Temperatures will climb to the upper 70s on Saturday and the mid-80s on Sunday. Monday’s high temperature could reach the low 90s. Tropical Storm Isaac could end up having an impact on North Carolina later this week. As of 8 p.m. Friday, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and was expected to make landfall on Haiti late Friday and could lose some of its intensity over the weekend, as it moves over mountainous terrain. “It may get ripped apart so much that by the time it makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico, it may have a difficult time to reorganize,” WRAL meteorologist Mike Maze said. The storm, however, is expected to strengthen again in the Gulf to a Category 1 hurricane, and if it does, that could mean rain for the Triangle. |
Earth Watch Report – Sunday August 26th, 2012
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Earthquakes
RSOE EDIS
| Date/Time (UTC) | Magnitude | Area | Country | State/Prov./Gov. | Location | Risk | Source | Details | ||
| 26.08.2012 08:10:33 | 2.5 | North America | United States | California | Yountville |  |
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| 26.08.2012 07:40:21 | 3.2 | Asia | Turkey | Manisa | Golmarmara | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:43:26 | 2.0 | North America | United States | California | Brawley | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 06:43:50 | 2.0 | North America | United States | Alaska | Nanwalek | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 06:44:07 | 2.0 | North America | United States | California | Brawley | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 06:31:48 | 2.7 | North America | United States | Hawaii | Pahala | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 07:40:42 | 3.2 | Asia | Turkey | Manisa | Golmarmara | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:40:27 | 3.1 | Asia | Turkey | Manisa | Golmarmara | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:40:54 | 3.0 | South-America | Chile | Valparaíso | Los Andes | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 07:41:24 | 2.7 | Asia | Turkey | Kütahya | Saphane | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:41:13 | 2.2 | Europe | Norway | Nordland | Hemnesberget | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 07:41:42 | 2.2 | Asia | Turkey | Malatya | Arguvan | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 05:40:27 | 4.6 | Atlantic Ocean – North | Greenland | Kujalleq | Prins Christians Sund | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 05:42:57 | 4.8 | Atlantic Ocean | Greenland | Kujalleq | Prins Christians Sund | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 05:40:52 | 4.6 | Atlantic Ocean – North | Greenland | Kujalleq | Prins Christians Sund | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 05:36:02 | 4.6 | Atlantic Ocean | Greenland | Kujalleq | Prins Christians Sund | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 05:41:14 | 2.1 | Europe | Italy | Emilia-Romagna | San Prospero | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 04:00:34 | 2.4 | North America | United States | Alaska | Nanwalek | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 07:42:08 | 3.0 | Asia | Turkey | Mu?la | Ula | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 07:42:26 | 2.8 | Asia | Turkey | Tokat | Yesilyurt | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 03:30:28 | 2.3 | North America | United States | California | Markleeville | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 03:35:25 | 2.5 | Europe | Greece | Central Greece | Kastrakion | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 03:35:43 | 2.9 | Europe | Greece | South Aegean | Oia | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 02:45:30 | 2.1 | North America | United States | Washington | Danville | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 02:35:39 | 2.0 | Europe | Spain | Andalusia | Villarrubia | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 01:50:31 | 2.0 | North America | United States | Hawaii | Pahala | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 02:36:01 | 3.2 | Asia | Turkey | Kütahya | Simav | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 01:25:34 | 2.1 | North America | United States | Alaska | Four Mile Road | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 06:41:31 | 2.2 | Asia | Turkey | Malatya | Doganyol | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 00:15:28 | 2.7 | Middle America | Mexico | Baja California | Alberto Oviedo Mota | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 02:55:27 | 2.1 | North America | United States | California | Bertsch-Oceanview | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 00:40:26 | 3.0 | Caribbean | British Virgin Islands | Road Town | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
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| 26.08.2012 00:20:22 | 2.4 | Europe | Italy | Sicily | Letoianni | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:41:50 | 2.6 | Asia | Turkey | ?zmir | Seferihisar | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 23:20:20 | 2.3 | South-America | Chile | Antofagasta | Tocopilla | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 23:05:40 | 3.1 | Caribbean | Puerto Rico | Rincon | Stella | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 25.08.2012 23:20:49 | 3.5 | South-America | Argentina | San Juan | Calingasta | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:42:08 | 2.2 | Asia | Turkey | Van | Toyga | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 22:20:25 | 2.7 | Europe | Croatia | Splitsko-Dalmatinska | Strazica | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:42:27 | 2.2 | Asia | Turkey | Van | Yuvacik | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 21:50:42 | 3.3 | North America | United States | Alaska | Port Alsworth | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 26.08.2012 06:42:46 | 2.6 | Asia | Turkey | ?zmir | Candarli | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 21:00:36 | 5.1 | Asia | Japan | Fukushima | Iwaki | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 25.08.2012 21:15:21 | 5.1 | Asia | Japan | Fukushima | Iwaki | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 21:15:44 | 2.5 | Europe | Greece | Peloponnese | Velon | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 06:43:05 | 2.6 | Asia | Turkey | Kütahya | Saphane | |
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EMSC | |
| 26.08.2012 05:41:34 | 2.3 | Asia | Turkey | Kütahya | Simav | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 19:45:37 | 4.2 | Middle America | Mexico | Sonora | Puerto Penasco | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 25.08.2012 20:15:26 | 4.2 | Middle-America | Mexico | Sonora | Puerto Penasco | |
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EMSC | |
| 25.08.2012 20:15:46 | 2.9 | Europe | Spain | Canary Islands | La Restinga | |
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EMSC | |
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Mild Quake Hits Southwestern Iran TEHRAN (FNA)- An earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale hit the town of Lali in Khuzestan province, Southwestern Iran, on Friday. |
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The Seismological center of Khuzestan province affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 08:02 hours local time (0332 GMT).
The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 49.2 degrees in longitude and 33.6 degrees in latitude.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people – about a quarter of its population – and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.
Tehran alone sits on two major fault lines, and the capital’s 14 million residents fear a major quake.
Tremors jolt Rolpa villages
HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE
ROLPA: Villages in Rolpa got up this morning to an earthquake to the 10 consecutive time, locals said.
According to local Jay Prakash Rokamagar, they felt the shake for at least 10 times till 9.45 today morning. “Villagers have been staying out in the open since the first tremor,” he said.
With the quake’s epicenter in the border areas of Rukum and Baglung, the tremor of the first quake was felt in Kathmandu at 10.15 pm yesterday for 23 seconds. Its magnitude was 5 on the Richter Scale.
The tremor, measured at 28.699 degree North, 82.693 degree East and 38.3 kilometre depth, was mostly felt around Rukum and Rolpa’s eastern region and Rolpa’s northern areas, District Police Office Inspector, Rolpa, Rupesh Khadka said.
Newly build Thawang-4-based Bir Balbhadra Higher Secondary School and two-storey hostel building of Thawang Higher Secondary School have been collapsed by the quake. After the incident, all the students were shifted to safer places.
Likewise, Thawang VDC’s health post’s wall and Area Police Office building were also cracked by the tremors, DSP Kedar Rajaure informed.
More than a dozen houses, including Thawang-8’s Dil Bahadur Pariyar’s house and shed, Ramu Pariyar’s and Utte Pariyar’s houses and Kureli-8’s Reg Bahadur Budha’s two storey house were damaged by the shake.
Almost all the people of headquarters Libang and Rolpa are said to be staying in open after the tremor of the first quake.
The details of the further destruction are yet to arrive, District Police Office said.
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Volcanic Activity
Tangkubanperahu volcano (West Java): increased earthquakes prompt rise of alert level
BY: T
An increase in seismic activity at Tangkubanperahu volcano near Bandung, the capital of West Java, has been detected since 13 August and promted the Indonesian Volcanological survey (PVMBG) to increase the alert level of the volcano from 1 (normal) to 2 (alert) on 23 August.
Between 1 July and 23 Aug, 264 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, which is almost double to values measured during similar periods of time at the beginning of the year. In addition, pulses of volcanic tremor could be recognized.
Tangkubanperahu has 2 main craters, each about 1000 m wide and 400 m deep, filled by crater lakes, Kawah Ratu (queen) and Kawah Upas, respectively. The craters and lakes along with fumaroles and warm springs are popular tourist destinations. (It is recommended not to climb the volcano’s crater, which is a popular tourist destination in the area.
The last eruptions of the Tangkubanperahu were phreatic explosions in 1994.
- All news about: Tangkubanparahu volcano
- Information about: Tangkubanparahu volcano
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Links / Sources:
Links / Sources:
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It
Environmental : Extinction
Sea life ‘facing major shock’
by Staff Writers
Brisbane, Australia (SPX)
 Marine extinction events vary greatly. In the ‘Great Death’ of the Permian 250 million years ago, for example, an estimated 95 per cent of marine species died out due to a combination of warming, acidification, loss of oxygen and habitat. Scientists have traced the tragedy in the chemistry of ocean sediments laid down at the time, and abrupt loss of many sea animals from the fossil record. |
Life in the world’s oceans faces far greater change and risk of large-scale extinctions than at any previous time in human history, a team of the world’s leading marine scientists has warned. The researchers from Australia, the US, Canada, Germany, Panama, Norway and the UK have compared events which drove massive extinctions of sea life in the past with what is observed to be taking place in the seas and oceans globally today.
Three of the five largest extinctions of the past 500 million years were associated with global warming and acidification of the oceans – trends which also apply today, the scientists say in a new article in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.
Other extinctions were driven by loss of oxygen from seawaters, pollution, habitat loss and pressure from human hunting and fishing – or a combination of these factors.
“Currently, the Earth is again in a period of increased extinctions and extinction risks, this time mainly caused by human factors,” the scientists stated. While the data is harder to collect at sea than on land, the evidence points strongly to similar pressures now being felt by sea life as for land animals and plants.
The researchers conducted an extensive search of the historical and fossil records to establish the main causes of previous marine extinctions – and the risk of their recurring today.
“We wanted to understand what had driven past extinctions of sea life and see how much of those conditions prevailed today,” says co-author Professor John Pandolfi, of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland, an authority on the fate of coral reefs in previous mass extinction events.
“It is very useful to look back in time – because if you forget your history, you’re liable to repeat it.”
Marine extinction events vary greatly. In the ‘Great Death’ of the Permian 250 million years ago, for example, an estimated 95 per cent of marine species died out due to a combination of warming, acidification, loss of oxygen and habitat. Scientists have traced the tragedy in the chemistry of ocean sediments laid down at the time, and abrupt loss of many sea animals from the fossil record.
“We are seeing the signature of all those drivers today – plus the added drivers of human overexploitation and pollution from chemicals, plastics and nutrients,” Prof. Pandolfi says.
“The fossil record tells us that sea life is very resilient – that it recovers after one of these huge setbacks. But also that it can take millions of years to do so.”
The researchers wrote the paper out of their concern that the oceans appear to be on the brink of another major extinction event.
“There may be still time to act,” Prof. Pandolfi says. “If we understand what drives ocean extinction, we can also understand what we need to do to prevent or minimise it.
“We need to understand that the oceans aren’t just a big dumping ground for human waste, contaminants and CO2 – a place we can afford to ignore or overexploit. They are closely linked to our own survival, wellbeing and prosperity as well as that of life on Earth in general.
“Even though we cannot easily see what is going on underwater, we need to recognise that the influence of 7 billion humans is now so great it governs the fate of life in the oceans. And we need to start taking responsibility for that.”
He adds “The situation is not hopeless. If fact we have seen clear evidence both from the past and the present that sea life can bounce back, given a chance to do so.
“For example, in Australia we have clear evidence of that good management of coral reefs can lead to recovery of both corals and fish numbers.
“So, rather, our paper is an appeal to humanity to give the oceans a chance.
“In effect, it says we need to stop releasing the CO2 that drives these massive extinction events, curb the polluted and nutrient-rich runoff from the land that is causing ocean ‘dead zones’ manage our fisheries more sustainably and protect their habitat better.
“All these things are possible, but people need to understand why they are essential. That is the first step in taking effective action to prevent extinctions.”
Their paper Extinctions in ancient and modern seas by Paul G. Harnik, Heike K. Lotze, Sean C. Anderson, Zoe V. Finkel, Seth Finnegan, David R. Lindberg, Lee Hsiang Liow, Rowan Lockwood, Craig R. McClain, Jenny L. McGuire, Aaron O’Dea, John M. Pandolfi, Carl Simpson and Derek P. Tittensor appears in the online edition of Trends in Ecology and Evolution (TREE).
Related Links
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
Water News – Science, Technology and Politics
Related articles
- Sea life ‘facing major shock’ (engineeringevil.com)
- Sea life ‘facing major shock’ (esciencenews.com)
- Scientists warn of marine life extinctions (upi.com)
- Earth’s Oceans ‘Facing A Man-Made Major Extinction Event’ (huffingtonpost.co.uk)
- Climate: Oceans facing catastrophic extinction (summitcountyvoice.com)
- Global warming: Coral reefs will change … and not for the better, experts say at global reef powwow (summitcountyvoice.com)
- Fish learn to cope in a high CO2 world (environmentalresearchweb.org)
- North American freshwater fish may be extinct by the year 2050. (familysurvivalprotocol.com)
August 25, 2012 by desertrose
Politics, Legislation and Economy News
Banking &Financial Corruption : Taxation Hypocrisy
Trillions Stashed in Offshore Tax Havensby Stephen Lendman
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A new Tax Justice Network (TJN) USA report reveals an estimated $21 – $32 trillion of hidden and stolen wealth stashed largely tax-free secretly. Titled “The Price of Offshore Revisited,” it explains what financial insiders know but won’t discuss. Many of them have their own hidden wealth.
TJN describes a “subterranean” systemic “economic equivalent of an astrophysical black hole.” The higher estimate above exceeds US GDP twofold.
It’s mind-boggling. It’s hard imagining a tiny percent of privileged elites control this much wealth secretly. It’s worse knowing it’s largely tax free. It’s appalling that governments let them get away with it.
Wall Street and other major banks manage it. Their business is fraud and grand theft. Private banking operations yield huge profits. Keeping funds secreted tax free attracts rich clients. Private capital globally is attracted. It’s welcome from anyone, “no questions asked.”
Government policies protect them. Societal costs are huge. Tax justice is absent. Hotel magnate Leona Helmsley once said only little people pay taxes. TJN’s report bears her out.
A vast “global offshore industry” is explained. It’s largely tax-free. It’s controlled by the world’s richest, most powerful elites. Estimating amounts secreted takes tedious data mining.
Previous estimates relied more on rough judgments. TJN used several methods. They include available data sources, estimation methods, and core assumptions. They’re open to peer review and public scrutiny.
Four key approaches were used:
(1) A “sources-and-uses” country-by-country model.
(2) An “accumulated offshore wealth” model.
(3) An “offshore investor portfolio” model.
(4) Best-guess estimates of offshore assets held by the world’s top 50 private banks.
Familiar Wall Street, European, and other global financial institutions comprise them.
Current data gotten from global central banks, the World Bank, IMF, UN, and national accounts were used. Other evidence includes:
(1) “Transfer mispricing” data.
(2) Demand for cross-border liquid “mattress money” data.
(3) Current research data on the offshore private banking market’s size.
TJN believes its work comprises the “most rigorous and comprehensive” data ever produced. It challenges anyone to contest it.
In overall size through 2010, it estimates hidden global wealth at from $21 – $32 trillion. It’s invested “virtually tax-free” through a still-expanding black hole of more than 80 secret jurisdictions. It calls estimates conservative.
Developed countries don’t face debt problems. They’ve got huge offshore tax evasion ones. Repatriation would reduce debt substantially. Doing so would bring it well within tolerable levels.
Only financial wealth is included. Much else isn’t measured. It includes real estate, yachts, racehorses, gold, art, and other categories not easily quantified.
The offshore economy alone has an enormous negative impact on the domestic tax bases of affected countries. They’ve had significant private capital outflows for years, decades or longer.
TJN focused on 139 countries. They’re mainly “low-middle income” ones. The World Bank and IMF maintain data on them.
Since the 1970s, private bankers let rich elites accumulate trillions in hidden wealth. At the same time, these nations experienced structural adjustment harshness.
They became debt-entrapped. Some borrowed themselves into insolvency. They sold off public assets at fire sale prices. They impoverished their people. They colluded with big money interests at their expense.
Through 2010, they accumulated over $4 trillion in debt. Minus foreign reserves invested in First World securities, it’s $2.8 trillion. Including hidden wealth, they’re net lenders.
Key is that assets of these countries are held by wealthy elites. Ordinary people bear the burden of debts.
In the 1980s, an unnamed Fed official said:
“The problem is not that these countries don’t have any assets. The problem is they’re all in Miami” and other global cities. They’re home to private financial institutions.
Hidden offshore wealth correlates positively with loan amounts to indebted countries. Large amounts of borrowed capital were secreted lawlessly in global tax havens.
Local elites continue “vot(ing) with financial feet.” At the same time, their public sectors borrow heavily and ordinary people go begging.
Although First World countries borrow most, they and elites in them remain global financiers.
Wealth is concentrated in select private hands “in a handful of source countries.” Many are regarded as debtors.
Through 2010, 50 top private banks managed over $12 trillion in cross-border assets from individual clients, trusts and foundations.
Smaller banks, investment firms, insurers, and non-bank intermediaries like hedge funds and independent money managers handle additional amounts up to an overall $32 trillion estimate.
TJN calls these enablers part of a global “tax injustice system.” Complicit governments let them operate at the expense of their own people.
“Since the late 1970s, investigative journalists, tax authorities, drug enforcement officials, terrorist trackers, national security experts,” and others became aware about vast amounts of money stashed in “offshore” tax havens.
Private banking “professional enablers” manage it. They make fortunes doing it. The term “offshore” refers less to physical locations than virtual ones anywhere. They’re often “networks of legal and quasi-legal entities and arrangements.” They operate in the interests of money managers.
Physical locations can be anywhere. Legal structures typically are assets owned by anonymous offshore companies in one jurisdiction. Trusts are in another. Trustees are in multiple places globally.
Clients are rich elites, companies, and criminals. They include real estate speculators, technology tycoons, oil sheiks, underworld millionaires, heads of state, despots, and drug lords, among others. Their common needs include:
(1) Anonymity and confidentiality.
(2) Minimizing or avoiding taxes.
(3) Skilled money management.
(4) Ability to access and manage their wealth anywhere.
(5) Secure places to reside, visit, or hide.
(6) Assured financial security no matter what’s happening in the real world.
Skilled professionals provide these services globally. Money management happens in a virtual world. They live under one set of rules. Another exists for all others. It’s gone on for decades. Global banks thrive on it. It’s one of their most profitable operations.
Physical locations operate from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Nauru, St. Kitts, Antigua, Tortola, Switzerland, the Channel Islands, Monaco, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, and elsewhere.
Over 3.5 million paper companies, thousands of shell banks and insurers, more than half the world’s registered commercial ships above 100 tons, and tens of thousands of shell subsidiaries of giant global banks, accounting firms, and various other companies operate there.
Nonetheless, conventional havens are misleading. Despite their vast financial infrastructure, most super-rich elites want more security. They also need easy access to First World capital markets, competent attorneys and accountants, independent judiciaries, and laws protecting them.
Professional “enablers” provide all needed services. Managing vast wealth is complex. Many skills are required. They include financial, economic, legal, accounting, and insurance. Super-rich elites demand and get the best.
Haven locations offer more than tax avoidance. Almost anything goes on. It includes fraud, bribery, illegal gambling, money laundering, human and sex trafficking, arms dealing, toxic waste dumping, conflict diamonds and endangered species trafficking, bootlegged software, and endless other lawless practices.
It’s impossible to estimate total lawful and illegal wealth from all sources. It’s vastly more than estimates within the parameters of TJN’s study. Credit Suisse tried.
Through mid-2011, it puts total financial and non-financial global wealth at $231 trillion. It’s a best guess. It’s tenfold TJN’s top figure. It’s mind-boggling. It’s roughly 3.5 times global GDP. In 2011, it was about $65 trillion.
Imagine the good a small percent of global wealth could do for billions of disadvantaged people. Imagine its ability to stabilize and recapitalize troubled countries. Imagine a world where everyone shares its wealth. Imagine one worth living in.
Global wealth represents low-hanging fruit out of reach. Instead of everyone benefitting, few do at the expense of all others. Injustice that great begs for transformational change. From the bottom up is the only way possible. Shedding light on what’s dark is a good way to start.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour |
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| Stephen Lendman is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Stephen Lendman | ||||||
Related articles
- Trillions Stashed in Tax Havens (sjlendman.blogspot.com)
- Developing world’s secret offshore wealth ‘double external debt’ (guardian.co.uk)
- Inequality Is Much Worse When You Count Income Hidden In Tax Shelters (businessinsider.com)
- Opinion: Bailed-out banks facilitate $21tn offshore cash hoard (thebureauinvestigates.com)
- World’s elite loots at least $21 trillion and stashes it in tax-avoiding hideaways (dailykos.com)
- World’s Elite Hide $21-32 Trillion From Tax Man in Offshore Accounts (taxprof.typepad.com)
- $21 trillion hidden offshore (bankrate.com)
- Report Details $21-$32 Trillion in Untaxed Global Wealth Parked Offshore (news.firedoglake.com)
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Crossroads News : Changes In The World Around Us And Our Place In It
Environmental : The Beauty Of Nature – Regeneration
Natural Regeneration Building Urban Forests, Altering Species Composition
by Staff Writers
Syracuse NY (SPX)
 File image. |
In forested regions of the nation, natural regeneration may help cities achieve tree cover goals at the expense of maintaining the desired tree species. A study by U.S. Forest Service scientists published recently in Urban Forestry and Urban Greening showed that on average, 1 in 3 trees in sampled cities were planted while two-thirds resulted from natural regeneration.
However, for newly established, young trees in cities in forested regions, only about 1 in 12 trees (Syracuse, N.Y.) to 1 in 20 trees (Baltimore) were planted.
The lower proportion of naturally regenerated trees in the entire city tree population may be because naturally regenerated trees have a higher mortality rate than planted trees, according to Dave Nowak, a research forester with the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station and the study’s principal investigator. Naturally regenerated trees typically have more competition for the water, light and nutrients that are needed for survival.
“Urban forests change constantly in response to human activities and environmental factors,” said Michael T. Rains, Director of the Northern Research Station. “This study is an example of the work U.S. Forest Service scientists are doing to help cities and counties achieve healthy and sustainable urban forests.”
Most of the cities included in the study are located within forested regions, where environmental conditions favor trees. The study suggests that natural regeneration may be the most cost-effective means to attain desired tree cover levels and associated ecosystem services in forested regions, but relying on natural regeneration may alter the tree species making up a given forest.
The study included Baltimore, Chicago, Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles and Syracuse, N.Y., as well as nine cities in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The percentage of planted trees within the entire tree population ranged from a low of 11.1 percent in Hartford to a high of 89 percent in Los Angeles, according to the study. Results indicated that in cities located in grassland or desert regions, a greater percentage of the urban tree population is planted compared to cities in forested regions. The percentage of planted trees also increases with increased population density and impervious cover.
The factors that affect tree cover also play a role in natural regeneration. Precipitation, air temperatures, surrounding natural vegetation type, and the distribution of land use types in the city all influence how much seed source exists and whether seedlings grow. Land use plays a role in whether seedlings are mowed down or whether paved surfaces prevent seedling establishment, and ultimately affect a city’s need for tree planting to sustain tree cover.
“Before we can say how many trees we need to plant, we need to know how many trees are regenerating naturally and how many are dying,” according to Nowak. “Planting programs to sustain tree cover can be greatly improved with long-term monitoring data to show how the urban forest is changing.”
Researchers evaluated the magnitude of natural regeneration or tree planting across an entire city system by randomly locating 0.04-hectare field plots in each city and recording tree measurements as well as an estimate of whether a sampled tree was planted or occurred through natural regeneration.
Crews based their estimates on surrounding conditions. For example, trees along fence lines or in unmaintained areas were generally classified as naturally regenerated, while trees in maintained lawn areas or street trees were typically classified as planted.
Residential and commercial/industrial areas have the highest proportion of planted trees, 74.8 percent and 61.2 percent respectively, while trees found in parks, cemeteries, golf courses, open space/vacant land, agricultural fields and wetlands are predominately the result of natural regeneration.
The study also evaluated two cities, Syracuse, N.Y., and Baltimore, more closely. An estimated 58 percent of new trees recently established in Baltimore are native species while only 35 percent of new trees in Syracuse are native species, according to the study. Fifty-two percent of the new trees were classified as invasive species in Syracuse.
The mission of the U.S. Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.
The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
The mission of the Forest Service’s Northern Research Station is to improve people’s lives and help sustain the natural resources in the Northeast and Midwest through leading-edge science and effective information delivery.
Related Links
U.S. Forest Service
Forestry News – Global and Local News, Science and Application
Related articles
- Natural regeneration building urban forests, altering species composition (esciencenews.com)
- New Hampshire leads U.S. in tree cover (upi.com)
- Program offers free trees to Greenwood homeowners (phinneywood.com)
- A Watershed Moment: The Urban Forest Project and 40% Tree Canopy (thewmeacblog.org)
- New Hampshire leads nation in percent tree cover (esciencenews.com)
- California Cities: Calling Trees “Urban Forests” to Extract New Taxes (nationalreview.com)
- California city eyes carbon credit revenue from its trees (reuters.com)
- How the emerald ash borer is changing the suburban landscape (dailyherald.com)
August 26, 2012 by desertrose
Politics, Legislation and Economy News
Government Overreach : Psy Ops – Blow back
Published on Aug 25, 2012 by ricthuse
http://www.oathkeepers.org http://www.oathkeepers.org http://www.oathkeepers.org
The lawyer who helped secure the release of Brendon Raub, a former Marine forcibly incarcerated in a psychiatric ward by authorities in Virginia for political posts on Facebook, told the Alex Jones Show today that there are currently a further 20 cases in his county alone that are similar in nature to Raub’s detention.
John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute also said that he had been contacted by numerous veterans in the aftermath of Raub’s release who had encountered similar problems with authorities attempting to have them declared mentally ill.
Whitehead attributed the high number of cases involving veterans as a consequence of the Department of Homeland Security’s aggressive campaign to demonize former servicemembers as domestic extremists.
Despite controversy at the time, DHS chief Janet Napolitano said she stood by an April 2009 DHS intelligence assessment that listed returning vets as likely domestic terrorists.
Just a month later, the New York Times reported on how Boy Scout Explorers were being trained by the DHS to kill “disgruntled Iraq war veterans” in terrorist drills.
The FBI has also gone out of its way to characterize returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan as a major domestic terrorist threat.
http://www.infowars.com/lawyer-20-more-cases-similar-to-brendon-raub-ongoing/
by Paul Joseph Watson
Vets Detained Under NDAA 2/3 Gov’t Using ‘Stalinist Model’; Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers
Vets Detained Under NDAA 3/3 Gov't Using 'Stalinist Model'; Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers
Related articles
- Alert: DHS Rounding up Veterans, Throwing them in Mental institutions (conservativeread.com)
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- Ex Marine Vet Brandon J Raub arrested because of his Facebook posts in America! (antinewworldorderparty.wordpress.com)
- Vets Being Round Up Nationwide, People Everywhere Just Disappearing (federaljack.com)
- Lawyer: 20 More Cases Similar to Brendon Raub Ongoing (investmentwatchblog.com)
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Well, Isaac is coming at 875 miles wide! I will be right here in Biloxi and will try to update you all if at all possible. Please pray that he doesn't get to the projected cat 3 they are calling for! Right now they are saying 85mph by Monday night with landfall Tuesday night. Thank God for all my prep work and stockpiling!!!
The latest ZT Newsletter is circulating that the west coast of Luzon, the main island in the Phillipines and home of the city of Manila, are flooding because of a 40-foot drop in elevation. I searched the internet and didn't find anything on an elevation drop, so I asked someone who lives there. It was news to that person, who said that Manila is several feet below sea level and they are having heavy rains. See http://ketsanaondoywatch.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/elevation-is-no-guarantee-for-protection-in-metro-manila/. Here is an article about Luzon and how the heavy rains are causing dam personnel to release water so the dam doesn't overflow: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/249103/central-northern-luzon-brace-ahead-of-new-storm.
The latest ZT refers to this article: http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfx341.htm, to give you some background.
Since the current ZT states that the 40' loss of elevation had already occurred prior to the October 6, 2011 MODIS image that was "glanced at," I went direct to MODIS to review the next images back from October 6, 2011 (which were August 18, 2011), and spent hours following the coastline looking for signs of elevation loss. I didn't find any, but what I did find were signs of heavy rain run-off, as well as docks in Manila which were not submerged...
For images leading up to this close-up view, see Manila-loss-40%27-elevation-docks-manila-not-submerged-08182011.doc.
Manila had been experiencing heavy rains then (2011) because it was the middle of monsoon season plus a typhoon had passed through mere days before the above image was shot. Here are some news links and facts about the weather:
http://www.goodfilipino.com/2011/08/august-2-2011-suspension-of-classes-in.html
Manila was swamped by it: http://english.sina.com/world/p/2011/0802/385097.html
And before the August typhoon, it had experienced more rain. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_in_the_Philippines#August, so there was an overload of rain...
May 8–9 - Typhoon *"Bebeng" entered the Philippine area of Responsibility, and hits Bicol region where 20 people reported dead while 2 still missing.
June 20–27 - Tropical storm Falcon dumps heavy rain in Luzon led to a series of floods leaving 2 people dead and 5 missing.
July 26 & 27 - Tropical Storm Juaning hits the Philippines where 31 died while 27 still missing.
July 31 - Tropical depression Lando sighted in the West Philippine Sea, and it joined with Kabayan, which they are the cause of rain in some parts of Metro Manila.
August 2 – Typhoon Muifa swamps Manila
August 8 – youtube of rain pouring... *** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3mWfp5MbPk
And, remember, August 11, 2011 was five months after the Japan earthquake.
***“After being hit by 48 hours of consecutive rain and flash flooding across the majority of Metro Manila, on the third evening the rain began to increase, not only in the intensity of the rain storms, but also the length of the rain storms. This video was taken 5 minutes into the storm and 15 minutes later the intensity is the same.”
Currently, August 2012, shows similar conditions existing.
So, that which is being claimed to be a loss of elevation appears to be submerged coastlines caused by run-off from heavy rains, similar to the study done done in 2011 regarding Kronja, near Jakarta, Indonesia. See here: https://earthchanges.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tectonic-plates-collapsing. And how does the runoff get to the coasts? By the 37 rivers in Luzon, three of which are in and around Manila. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_in_the_Philippines.
I didn't follow all the coastlines, but since Manila was considered as having the same 40' foot elevation loss--no distinction was made, the entire western side of Luzon had the exact same 40' elevation loss (which is odd all by itself), I think the docks not being submerged in Manila speak for the rest of the coastlines.
I looked around for how high the platform a commercial dock is from the waterline and that information is one of the few things on which Google fell short. I did, finally, find this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Heavy_Industries. "The largest of the three docks, Dock No. 3, is 640 meters long, 97.5 meters wide, and 13 meters deep (42ft 713⁄16in]. Mostly ultra-large ships are built at this dock...." Remember, this is a supertanker size dock.
I'm not sure how far above the waterline the main dock or pier is, but from the pictures it didn't seem like it was all that much (link below). It seems that a 40' drop in elevation would submerge most docks. Thus, the August 18, 2011 image shows five docks that are not submerged, which lends weight to the conclusion that a 40' elevation loss has not occurred. In fact, less than a 20' loss would likely submerge most docks.
Then I got to thinking whether the 42'8" was the thickness of just the platform, which might be up on pilings like smaller docks are. So I went to Google Earth and zoomed in on one ship at a dock in Manila and the elevation was around 19 feet above sea level, depending on where the cursor was. The range was 13 to 22 feet when I rolled the cursor all around the ship, higher on the dock side, less on the far side of the ship.
Here's the above image zoomed out a bit. It says the elevation is 20'...
The image in this next link about Manila's South Harbor shows the pier is not much above the water line...
http://mcgutib.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/featured-ports-pmo-south-harbor/. And this next link indicates South Harbor has a 13m (42ft 713⁄16in) depth alongside the piers: http://webapps.dpworld.com/portal/page/portal/DP_WORLD_WEBSITE/Marine-Terminals/Locations/Asia-Pacific-and-Indian-Subcontinent/Asia-Pacific-Overview/Philippines-Manila. The images above, I think, are of South Harbor.
Conclusion. If the coastline had sunk 40' then this pier, at an elevation of around 20' above sea level, should be under 20'+ of water.
And to really beat this dead horse, here is an image of a large river that flows behind the port for miles over to the Laguna de Bay. Notice the color of the river and the color of the water as it enters the bay. It's obviously runoff submerging low-lying land...
And here's the other end, where the river empties into the Manila Bay, the greenish water to the left of the piers...
